Book Review: Sadie

Title: Sadie

Author: Courtney Summers

Format: Advance Readers’ Edition Paperback

Published: 2018

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for the advance readers’ copy of Sadie! This book is officially on sale everywhere on September 4, 2018!

If I am brutally honest, this book came with a lot of hype and I felt let down.  The book started out slow, but, picked up.  The ending fell flat and just left me disappointed that I stayed up late to finish the book.

Meet Sadie.  She’s a high school dropout who decides to run away from home to kill the man that killed her thirteen-year-old little sister.  Their mother walked out on them, leaving Sadie to raise herself and her sister, Mattie.

Their foster grandmother, May Beth, calls West McCray as she was told he was someone who may give a damn about Sadie.  McCray runs a Podcast and decides to do a bit on Sadie and Mattie called The Girls.  The book goes between his podcasts and what he is uncovering and then Sadie telling us where her road trip is taking her.

Sadie knows all along who killed her sister, she is just on a mission to find him and kill him herself.  It takes us awhile to figure out who the killer is but eventually Sadie clues us in.  She goes on a journey across the country and does a better job at finding this person than the police ever could (if they knew or had a lead with who committed the crime).  In fact, it’s the lack of faith in the police for the reason why May Beth calls McCray in the first place.

It is a very real and sad story.  I felt for Sadie and wanted her to be successful on her journey.  I did feel some parts of the story came out of nowhere.  There is a scene with McCray interviewing Javi, a boy she met on her road trip, and what he says just didn’t seem to fit into Sadie’s description of what happened.  How the timing came in to play I don’t know.  I guess we would assume she just left that part out, but, it felt off.

I am giving this book 3 stars.  I am a fan of books with a solid ending and this left with me questions.  I don’t like to assume endings and this is one of those books.  If that’s your cup of tea, you will love this book and probably rate it 5 stars and call me crazy.  I guess you could call the ending a realistic missing person’s case ending, however, this is a work of fiction and darn it, I want answers!  Tune in next Thursday for my review of Vegas Girls by Heather Skyler!

Book Review: Stray: Memoir of a Runaway

Title: Stray: Memoir of a Runaway

Author: Tanya Marquardt

Format: Amazon First Reads Kindle Edition

Published: 2018

This was my pick for the month of August with Amazon First Reads.  Stray comes out officially on September 1, 2018.

Raw.  Powerful.  Emotional.  Heart wrenching.  These are all the feelings I felt reading Stray.  In this memoir Tanya Marquardt takes us on her journey when she was a teenager finishing up high school.  She decided to run away from home when she was 16 because the police in Canada could not do anything about it.

Her childhood left me so sad.  Marquardt has overcome a lot in her life.  She survived through abuse, a rough relationship with her divorced parents, and poverty only to relive it by writing about it.  This book reads a lot like a general non-fiction novel and I had to remind myself that this was in fact a true story.  My heart kept breaking with every turn of the page.

The ending is anti-climactic but again, it is a memoir.  I would have liked more closure at the end of the book, but, that is my opinion.  Overall this book was a powerful, insightful read.  I really commend Marquardt for staying focused on her education throughout her rough spot in her life.  Any more details about this book and it would be giving it all away.

I am giving this book 3 stars.  This book was well written and kept my interest.  It saddened me to think that there are children, innocent children, out there that live this life.  The ending just lacked and I would have appreciated to know the outcome of her transition from high school to college.  Obviously, she became successful as she wrote a book but the book just ends with her at an interview for college.  I felt like I went on this journey with her for a better life and she left me hanging.  It was a bit of a letdown after such a tremendous, powerful read.  Tune in next Thursday for my review of my advance reader copy of Sadie by Courtney Summers!

Book Review: The Other Woman

Title: The Other Woman

Author: Sandie Jones

Format: Advancer Readers’ Edition Paperback

Published: 2018

Thank you Minotaur Book for the advance readers’ copy of The Other Woman.  This book is out on August 21^st and I am here to tell you to read it.  I am going to try my best to give a review without giving anything away.  This was such a captivating and page turning read.  My favorite feature of this book were the short chapters so if I had 3 minutes to read I could get a chapter read quickly (and with 2 kids at home I was reading at any chance I got, so being able to stop at a chapter is key for me).

Emily meets Adam.  Emily falls in love with Adam.  Emily meets his mother.  There’s a hashtag for this book out there that is #BewareOfPammie.  Pammie is Adam’s mother.  Talk about a psychopath.  Wow.

Pammie is out to make Emily’s life a living hell.  No one else seems to see what Pammie does to Emily.  Is Emily crazy?  Is Emily taking things out of context?  Adam always takes his mother’s side and Emily is determined not to let Pammie win.

Let me interject that if I was Emily I probably would have left.  I probably would have moved to a new state and changed my name.  This woman is just nuts and honestly, Adam just wouldn’t be worth it for me.  I didn’t see what Emily sees in him, but, that’s love I guess.  Emily is having doubts that Pammie really doing everything she is.  She tells everyone how much she loves Emily and how great they get along so is she really doing things on purpose?  Is Emily just making something out of nothing?

On the front of the book it says there’s a, “fiendishly clever with a twist you will not see coming.”  Ok, so I’m reading, dying to know how everything turns out, and I’m almost at the end of the book.  How could there possibly be a twist?  Wait.  Oh!  OH!  WHAT?!?!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!  WHAT?!  Yeah, there’s a twist.

I had to take to twitter and search #TheOtherWoman and #BewareOfPammie to talk about this book with others.  Twitter loves the book.  If the Twitterverse loves something, you know it’s good.

This is a 5-star book.  You all know I enjoy a good ending and we get that in this book as well.  It gives you a glimpse into the future.  I can’t say much more or there would be no point in you reading this book.  Let me know if you plan on reading this book or if you received an advance copy too.  I am DYING to talk about this book to others!!  Tune in next Thursday for my review of Stray: Memoir of a Runaway by Tanya Marquardt!

Book Review: All Summer Long

Title: All Summer Long

Author: Dorothea Benton Frank

Format: Paperback

Published: 2016

I loved my first visit to a local Little Free Library and highly suggest that everyone check them out at https://littlefreelibrary.org/.  Find a local library in your area and pay it a visit (and leave it a book or two)!

So three chapters in to this book and nothing was happening.  There is a lovely older couple, Olivia and Nick, and they are embarking on a move.  Nick is retiring and Olivia promised him when he retires they would move from New York City to Sullivan’s Island.  You would think this book would be about them, however, it’s mostly about the travels they have with Olivia’s billionaire clients, Maritza and Bob.

Now Olivia is struggling financially and Nick is clueless.  Olivia has been struggling with clients and Bob is really her only client she has going for her now.  She’s been working with him for years so they have more of a brother/sister relationship.  The move to Sullivan’s Island has been stressful because she knows what they can and can’t afford and they really shouldn’t be buying what they are.  Earth to Olivia, TALK TO NICK!  BE HONEST!!  Thankfully her assistant Roni helps keep her grounded and is able to work things out for her.

So back to the worldly travels.  I cannot stand the circle of friends that Bob has.  They are rude and ignorant and I don’t know why Bob keeps them around.  Bob isn’t so innocent himself but when he realizes that he has the love of his life, he starts to change his ways, but, is it too late?  The crap that goes on will have your jaw drop.  It will leave you thinking Maritza is only with him for his money but you’ll see how that all unravels.

Short review because there really isn’t much here. If you pick this book up and open it at the halfway point and read the second half, that’s the only part where action happens.  So, because there is some witty, wait, what just happened writing in the second part of this book, I’m giving it a 3.  I’m glad I stuck it out and honestly when I got to the last quarter of the book I couldn’t put it down.  I’ll let you in on a secret…one of the wives decides to leave her husband and it’s an adventure to figure out where she went, how she did it, and if they would stay together.  It just took a lot of reading to get to the point of the story where there was a climax (this book could be turned into a GREAT short story).  Tune in next Thursday for my review of The Other Woman by Sandie Jones!

Book Review: I Wish You Happy

Title: I Wish You Happy

Author: Kerry Anne King

Format: Kindle Edition

Published: 2017

So I loved Whisper Me This so much I had to go right into another Kerry Anne King book.  I chose I Wish You Happy.

This story moves slow.  In the beginning I asked myself why I was still reading this book.  I didn’t really feel like there was a point to anything at all and I was just watching a clip of someone’s life.  But I kept reading because unless a book is absolutely horrendous, I won’t quit reading it.  Overall, I’m glad I didn’t quit reading because I think this book highlights mental health really well.  We all need to take care of ourselves and this book gently reminds you to.

The main character is Rae, who is a huge hot mess.  She gets along better with animals than people and is socially awkward.  She ends up running over a suicidal woman on a bike on her way to bury to her dead pet rat.  I told you she’s a little awkward.

She ends up going to the hospital to check on the woman she ran over.  She feels so much guilt over what happened with Kat, the woman she ran over, and blurts out that for her recovery she can stay with her.  The guilt hit her so strong (even though there was no way she could have prevented it) and she wants to help her.  She starts to have a flirty relationship with Cole, Kat’s therapist, and he ends up planning a memorial service for her dead rat.  What?  It’s an excuse for the party.

Kat is the only drama in this book, that is unless you count Rae going back and forth in her head on what she’s doing with her life.   She is an empath so she takes on the emotional load of everyone around her.  She was seeing a therapist but stopped because, well, let’s be honest, she couldn’t handle her anymore, but, she didn’t seem to help her out anyway.

Rae does seem to find a way to detach herself from other people and grows in the book.  Kat becomes a liability and Rae FINALLY puts her foot down.  She stands up for herself and will not let herself be taken advantage of with her kindness anymore.  It was nice to see that.  It was also nice to see how important our mental health can be and how serious we should take it.  Rae felt guilty and blame for Kat when, in reality, she needed to be giving her tough love from the very beginning.  It was never anything Rae did and I think she finally sees that light.  It helps her to have Cole by her side and she gets some great advice from his grandmother.

When Cole’s grandmother enters the book, she is filled with understanding and compassion.  Rae’s therapist didn’t necessarily have that.  It is important to be able to talk to someone openly that you trust and I think the underlying message in this novel was just that.

Overall, I give this book a 4.  I would really give it a 3.5 and well, that rounds up to 4.  I teetered between a 3 and 4 but the second half of the book is solid and I was dying to see where her and Cole went.  I also had to see what happened with Kat and if Rae would grow a pair.  It’s an easy read.  If it lands on your lap it’ll pass some time.  I can’t wait to read my next Kerry Anne King book!!  Tune in next Thursday for my review of my first Little Free Library book, All Summer Long by Dorothea Benton Frank!